Saturday, January 17, 2009

Healthy Wings? Well, Healthier...

I came upon the idea for this recipe on another food blog. Baked chicken wings. I have always thought of chicken ways in one way: grilled. I wasn't familiar with the concept of fried chicken wings until I came to college. My family likes to grill chicken wings before dousing them in sauce. For this reason, I tend to not eat lot of wings when I can't turn the grill on. Not to mention, the aparment kitchen (or the apartment back yard) currently doesn't have a grill. But baked? I can do that any old time. So when chicken wings went on sale this week at the grocery store, there was no doubt in my mind we were going to snatch them up.
We finished the chicken with a thick pineapple-soy glaze that was the perfect blend of sweet and spicy. It was really fast and we basked in the glow of each beautiful wing as though it was summer. Proving, you don't need 75 degree weather or a grill to have a good time. Especially if you add a cold beer to the mix.

Pineapple-Soy Glazed Wings  

Served 2. 

Leftover Potential: I'm not sure how these would re-heat because of the sauciness. Needless to say, we didn't have any leftovers.

Baked Chicken Wings 
3 pounds chicken wings 
salt, as needed 
pepper, as needed 
flour, as needed  

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Break down the chicken wings if need be. 
2. Season with chicken wings with salt and pepper. Toss the seasoned chicken in flour to coat. 
3. Spread the wings out on a baking sheet, spacing them as evenly as possible. 
4. Bake the chicken wings for 12-15 minutes before turning each wing and baking another 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. 
5. Meanwhile, make the glaze.

Pineapple-Soy Glaze

1 can crushed pineapple 
3-4 Tbsp soy sauce, or more as needed 
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 
1 tsp ginger 
1 clove garlic, finely minced 
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes *** 
1 Tbsp cornstarch 
1/2 cup water 
1 bunch scallions, finely sliced 
cilantro, chopped, for garnish 
lime wedges, for garnish  

1. In a small pot combine the pineapple, soy, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat. 
2. Make a slurry with the water and cornstarch. Add the slurry to the simmering pineapple mixture, and bring to a boil. 
3. Finish with 1/2 of the scallions. Taste the sauce for flavor, adding more ingredients as needed. 
4. Strain or puree the mixture. This gets rid of the chunks of pineapple, creating a smooth glaze for the wings. 
5. Toss the hot wings in the glaze to coat. Garnish with more scallions, cilantro, and lime wedges.

2 comments:

  1. Will make for Super Bowl. Must have.

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  2. Great success! I added the juice of one lime, and minced some cilantro and added that to the sauce. Took the puree route to finish the glaze. I also finished the wings on the grill before glazing them. Everyone was overjoyed. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!

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